Serializer/Deserializer (SerDes) circuits communicate data over point-to-point connections. This is in contrast to bus connections in which multiple points are attached to a bus and the multiple points share time communicating over the bus. SerDes circuits transmit parallel data over a serial link between two points by converting parallel data into serial data for transmission and converting the received serial data to parallel data. This allows fewer physical interconnections to be necessary between the two points.
However, in large electronic systems, such as a large computer system for example, the number of point-to-point connections may become large and complicate an interconnection scheme. Additionally, a large number of point-to-point connections may negatively impact system reliability.